Electric vehicle maker Faraday Future to raise up to US$600 million in funding
- CEO Carsten Breitfeld said Faraday Future’s manufacturing facility in California was nearing completion and was testing the FF 91 EV
- Faraday Future is one of the many EV start-ups that went public through blank-check mergers, a market that has slowed due to regulatory scrutiny
Faraday Future Intelligent Electric Inc said on Monday that the electric-vehicle start-up will raise up to US$600 million in funding as it looks to deliver its FF 91 luxury car later this year.
The company will get an initial US$52 million of funds as part of a new financing facility. Its cash balance was US$52.2 million as of August 9.
EV start-ups that promised to disrupt the auto industry by using a technology-heavy approach to their vehicle designs are now scrambling to secure fresh lines of cash and cut costs due to rising commodity prices.
Chief Executive Carsten Breitfeld said Faraday Future’s manufacturing facility in California was nearing completion and was testing the FF 91 electric vehicle.
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The electric-vehicle maker said it was in talks with investors in the United States and globally for a “significant additional near-term funding” as it looks to start deliveries in the third or fourth quarter.
Separately, Faraday Future said its head of global supply chain, Mathias Hofmann, will temporarily oversee manufacturing operations at its Hanford, California factory, replacing Vice-President of Manufacturing Matt Tall, who will leave the company.
The EV firm had in July signalled the need for more cash to launch FF 91 model in a regulatory filing just a month after CEO Breitfeld told Reuters that it would be able to launch the car without additional funding.
Faraday Future is one of the many EV start-ups that went public through blank-check mergers, a market that has slowed this year due to regulatory scrutiny and the poor share performance of companies listed via that route.
The company also said some suppliers had more recently requested accelerated payments and other terms and conditions due in part to its financial condition.
